The dynamite reigning champion battled it out with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who would ultimately get the better of Neeraj with an Olympic Record throw of 92.97m, whilst the Indian would register a best of 89.45m for the Silver.
Heartbreak entailed but that of the easier kind to digest as Neeraj Chopra clinched a historic hard-fought Silver in the Men’s Javelin Throw event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
The dynamite reigning champion battled it out with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who would ultimately get the better of Neeraj with an Olympic Record throw of 92.97m, whilst the Indian would register a season-best of 89.45m for the Silver.
With his silver, Neeraj joins an elite list of Indian athletes to have won multiple medals at the Olympics in an individual sport. Shuttler PV Sindhu (one silver, one bronze), wrestler Sushil Kumar (one silver, one bronze), and shooter Manu Bhaker (two bronze) are the only Olympians to have won two Olympic medals each post-Independence.
All eyes were on Chopra when he took the field. His stunning monster throw of 89.34m in the qualification round made quite a statement but a tough challenge awaited the defending champion.
Unlike Tokyo, the competition was bound to be tougher as nine throwers crossed the automatic final round qualification mark of 84m against six in Tokyo. Out of the nine, five made it to the final round with their first throws and thus promised to make for one hell of a final.
And the final bout here in Paris started off quite interestingly as well as the likes of Keshorn Walcott set the early bar, with an 86.16m throw, whilst Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem and Germany’s Julian Weber both registered foul throws.
In came Chopra with the eight throw of the round, unleashing a cannon of an attempt. But, he ultimately couldn’t keep his balance and tripped over from the force, just about tipping over the foul line and hence, fouling out on his first attempt.
The competition would heat up as the rounds progressed as Grenadian Anderson Peters would pack a wallop with his second attempt, posting 87.87m to take over the lead.
But, the real kicker would come in with Arshad Nadeem, who would clear 92.97m with his second attempt to set a new Olympic Record and take the lead position in dominant fashion.
Now, with the gauntlet thrown out for anyone to overtake the Pakistan national, it was going to take a season-best effort and a record-breaking one from Neeraj to claim the top spot.
Chopra wouldn’t take over the top spot immediately, but would rather build on his own pace to register a strong 89.45m attempt, a new season-best for him, and take over the second spot, as he calmly gestured to the crowd in a manner stating that he was just getting started.
From here onwards, it was clear to everyone that this was merely a two-horse race, as the age-old India-Pakistan rivalry was unfolding on the international stage yet again, with the two athletes going for glory.
Both Arshad and Neeraj would register weaker attempts in the next round, as Neeraj himself would register a half-hearted attempt that wouldn’t even cross the 80m line, but would foul himself out wantedly
Chopra’s fortunes wouldn’t turn anytime soon though, as the Indian would register yet another underwhelming attempt, fouling himself out wantedly, as the frustration could be seen building up in him.
And there was a man lost in his own anger, as the frsutration would get the better of Chopra on his penultimate throw as well, as the Indian would register his fourth foul throw out of his five attempts so far.
With one last chance to shoot for gold, Chopra took his best shot but could only register a meagre throw of less than 80m and fouled himself out to accept defeat and the Silver.
